In this issue:

Powell: Sudan Peace Talks Should Soon Conclude

U.S. Denounces Sudan for Darfur Crisis

Nigeria Says Ignore Statement on Nuclear Power

U.S. Looks for Access to African Bases

From Volume 3, Issue Number 10 of Electronic Intelligence Weekly, Published Mar. 9, 2004
Africa News Digest

Powell: Sudan Peace Talks Should Soon Conclude

The fate of Sudanese peace talks will soon be clear, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told a Congressional committee March 3. "By the end of March I hope we'll have cracked this. We are very close. We'll work very hard in the days ahead to try to bring this to a successful conclusion," he said. Negotiations have been stuck on power sharing and the status of disputed regions, particularly the Abyei region. "The power-sharing part is pretty much complete, the wealth sharing part is complete, two of the three disputed areas are pretty much taken care of. Abyei is the hard one," Powell explained.

Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail said on Feb. 28 that the government's talks with the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) had stumbled on power sharing and on the fate of three regions, Abyei, the Nuba Mountains, and Blue Nile State. He said the round of negotiations begun on Feb. 18 in Kenya, "should continue until March 18 at the least," but he promised no breakthroughs.

Sudanese officials, in discussions with EIR, made the following points: The Government of Sudan (GoS) is willing to make numerous concessions, for the sake of peace. Thus, the GoS has agreed to a referendum on self-determination for the South, after five years, even though, according to international law, this is ridiculous: Southern Sudan has never been a separate entity, even under British colonial rule.

On the territorial question, there is not so much room for compromise. The Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile State are part of the North, and will remain so, officials said. As for Abyei, it is historically part of Kordufan, which is a state of the North. One reason the SPLA wants it, is that oil has been discovered there.

Reports that the GoS had agreed to two separate central banks, two defense ministries, and two armies, are not true, said the officials. The SPLA wanted a separate currency, with a new name (not dinar), but this was refused. There is one central bank, with a branch in the South, and one currency. There is one army, although the SPLA military forces in the South, together with the GoS forces, are to jointly patrol as peacekeeping forces.

The Sudanese officials stressed their willingness to make concessions for the sake of peace. They said the Bush Administration seems to want peace, whereas former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, in her famous Uganda visit, had vowed to overthrow the Khartoum government by all means. The United States, however, is making sure that only Great Britain and Norway are allowed into the Inter-Governmental Authority for Development and Drought Control (IGAD) talks, and that Germany, in particular, is excluded.

U.S. Denounces Sudan for Darfur Crisis

For the first time, U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher stated that the United States is "very worried" about the situation in Darfur, where, he charged, the Government of Sudan (GoS) had attacked defenseless villages, and that 1 million people are in danger of starvation as a result, according to a recent report in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

But Sudanese officials told EIR a different story: Since the peace talks with the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) seem to be progressing overall, a new front has been opened against the GoS in Darfur. The forces mobilized there are actually criminal gangs, well-armed with Russian weapons, and "represented" by newly created pseudo-political groups, such as the Party of Justice and Equality and the Sudanese Liberation Movement. These forces have been targetting trade caravans and robbing them. The SPLA is pushing for international non-governmental organizations to go into the area, make contact with the political groups, and then launch campaigns for their "recognition" internationally as a liberation movement. There was a meeting in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany last year, promoting this cause. As the area is near the Chad border, the groups have disrupted trade, and threatened bilateral retaliations.

The Chad and Sudanese governments, at the Presidential level, are, however, committed to stopping the insurgency, and will organize an event in March to try to settle the issue.

Nigeria Says Ignore Statement on Nuclear Power

Pakistan offered to share military assistance, including nuclear power, with Nigeria, on March 3, during a visit to Nigeria by Pakistani General Muhammmad Aziz Khan. Khan was there to work out the dynamics of how to assist Nigeria's armed forces to strengthen their military capability and to acquire nuclear power.

On March 4, the Nigerian government issued a statement saying that the part of the offer to help Nigeria acquire nuclear power was a mistake, and should be ignored.

U.S. Looks for Access to African Bases

General Charles Wald, Deputy Commander of U.S. European Command (EUCOM) told Reuters Feb. 29 that the U.S. is talking with numerous African governments about securing access to potential trouble spots, amid alleged indications of al-Qaeda operations. Wald suggested that target areas include the Sahel, the Maghreb, and eastern Africa. EUCOM oversees operations in all of Africa except for the Horn, and hopes to secure agreements that will allow it fast access to emerging threats, but without permanent bases.

Wald has met with leaders of Algeria, Nigeria, Angola, and South Africa to discuss intelligence sharing, joint military exercises and U.S. troop access to local airstrips.

EUCOM Commander and Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, Gen. James L. Jones, has also been touring the continent.

U.S. military experts are training troops in Mali to guard the southern fringe of the Sahara, as well as for operations in Mauritania, Niger, Chad, Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia.

Recently the U.S. signed an agreement with Sao Tome and Principe to fund feasibility studies for building a deep-water port and developing an airport on these islands. While denying that the U.S. is looking for permanent bases, Wald admitted that the facility "would have its uses."

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